


Ruin

by Notabluemaia



Series: The Quest and Beyond [1]
Category: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Angst, Cirith Ungol, Devotion, Gen, Hope, Illustrations, Love, Prose Poem, The Quest
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-07
Updated: 2013-08-07
Packaged: 2017-12-22 18:03:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/916342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Notabluemaia/pseuds/Notabluemaia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Frodo falls to ruin, and Sam to despair.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ruin

  
_When at last the blackness passed, Sam looked up and shadows were about him… He was still in the same place,_  
and still his master lay beside him dead. The mountains had not crumbled nor the earth fallen into ruin.  
“The Choices of Master Samwise", _The Two Towers_ , by J.R.R. Tolkien

 

**Ruin**

Fallen, betrayed, onto  
Bitter cruel rock,  
A pitying lamb  
To his slaughter false led;  
Poison bloodstain  
Streaks bared white throat  
Beneath evil's glinting chain.

Life ebbs fast;  
An anguished scream  
Freezes in his breast.

Bravery wields  
Its own fierce sting,  
Dauntless at love’s behest.

With failing strength,  
By will alone,  
Desperate to know  
The waged battle won,  
He arches, twists,  
And strains  
To see—

But bright eyes blur  
From blue to grey,  
And cannot tell him  
Who holds sway.  
Hazed vision dims;  
All fades away.

Collapsing back  
Midst crags stretched high,  
One palm upturned  
To the darkening sky,  
His outflung hand,  
So small and still,  
Beckons a silent plea.

The victor returns,  
Finds- and falls.  
He plummets to black despair.  
Knees sheered by gravel,  
Heart seared by dread—  
He sees what he cannot bear:

Beloved eyes,  
Like near-dawn skies,  
Agonized,  
As a lightless sunrise,  
Fixed upon hope and their fear.

Fragile cords binding  
Endurance to life,  
Frayed thin by vicious  
Fang, burden, and knife:  
Give no sign to comfort  
The victor’s strife,  
In his grief left alone  
To the Quest.

Defy crumbling ruin!  
Chafe and warm!  
Clasp him, and cradle to breast!

But cold lingers chill  
In an unmoving form,  
Denying hope’s fervent request.

Soft lips shaped _Sam_  
Round his last breath’s sigh,  
Now answered, unheard, ‘Me dear’.  
But lying in arms,  
He no longer can know  
The caress of love's  
Heartbroken tears.

 

~ * ~

 

August 2003  
(revised April 2006)

 

[](http://photobucket.com)   
_Outside the Circle..._  


  
  
A/N: In August 2003, New Line Cinema released several pictures from _The Return of the King_ , one of which (from preview on _The Two Towers, Extended Edition_ ) became the haunting teaser poster of Frodo, beautiful and anguished. It was not clear from which scene the picture derived, but in the raw photograph it appeared that all life had drained from Frodo’s eyes. I wondered if this might be in Cirith Ungol, and, in a typical stroke of Peter Jackson’s dramatic brilliance, Sam would find Frodo lying still and spider-stung, his expressive eyes _open_ , unseeing… telling the film audience immediately why Sam believes what he believes… In almost forty years of loving this book, I had never imagined that Frodo’s eyes might be open; the thought and the poster stunned me, and I had to write catharsis.[](http://www.google.com/search?q=What%20started%20as%20a%20drabble%20\(100%20words\)%20evolved%20to%20a%20terse%20poem.%0D%0A%0D%0AThe%20pen%20and%20ink%20sketch%20was%20the%20first%20art%20dared%20after%20a%20loved%20one's%20car%20crash%2C%20April%202005.%0D%0A)[](http://www.imdb.com/find?s=all&q=What%20started%20as%20a%20drabble%20\(100%20words\)%20evolved%20to%20a%20terse%20poem.%0D%0A%0D%0AThe%20pen%20and%20ink%20sketch%20was%20the%20first%20art%20dared%20after%20a%20loved%20one's%20car%20crash%2C%20April%202005.%0D%0A)[](http://search.conduit.com/Results.aspx?q=What%20started%20as%20a%20drabble%20\(100%20words\)%20evolved%20to%20a%20terse%20poem.%0D%0A%0D%0AThe%20pen%20and%20ink%20sketch%20was%20the%20first%20art%20dared%20after%20a%20loved%20one's%20car%20crash%2C%20April%202005.%0D%0A&SearchSource=45&ctid=CT3303567)[](http://www.google.com/search?hl=com&btnI=I'm+Feeling+Lucky&q=What%20started%20as%20a%20drabble%20\(100%20words\)%20evolved%20to%20a%20terse%20poem.%0D%0A%0D%0AThe%20pen%20and%20ink%20sketch%20was%20the%20first%20art%20dared%20after%20a%20loved%20one's%20car%20crash%2C%20April%202005.%0D%0A+wikipedia)


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